Two Mexico City restaurants get Michelin stars

Michelin added two first-time starred restaurants in central Mexico City to its 2026 Mexico guide, giving one star each to Gaba and Expendio de Maíz in the borough of Cuauhtémoc. Michelin said on May 20 that its 2026 Mexico selection includes 29 starred restaurants nationwide and seven newcomers overall. The company also said the guide expanded this year into three additional Mexican states: Jalisco, Puebla and Yucatán. Casa de Chiles separately reported the Mexico City additions on May 23. ### Which two Mexico City restaurants were newly starred? Gaba and Expendio de Maíz are listed by Michelin as one-star restaurants in the 2026 guide for Mexico. Both are in Cuauhtémoc, the central Mexico City borough that includes neighborhoods such as Roma and Condesa and has become one of the capital’s most closely watched dining districts. (guide.michelin.com) Gaba had been listed as a Bib Gourmand restaurant in the 2025 guide, according to Michelin’s archived restaurant page surfaced in search results, before moving up to one star in the 2026 edition. Expendio de Maíz had already held one star in Michelin’s 2025 guide, according to Michelin restaurant pages indexed in other language editions, so the 2026 recognition confirms it remains starred; Michelin’s current 2026 page lists it as one star. (guide.michelin.com) ### Did both restaurants receive their first stars this year? Michelin’s own pages clearly show Gaba as a new one-star restaurant for 2026 after a Bib Gourmand listing in 2025. For Expendio de Maíz, Michelin search results indicate it already appeared as a one-star restaurant in the 2025 guide, which means it was not a first-time star in 2026 based on Michelin’s own indexed records. That makes the broad claim that two Mexico City restaurants got their first stars this year only partly supported by Michelin’s current and archived listings. (guide.michelin.com) Casa de Chiles reported on May 23 that two restaurants in central Mexico City received first Michelin stars in the 2026 guide. Michelin’s official listings support the inclusion of Gaba and Expendio de Maíz in the 2026 starred selection, but the historical Michelin pages available through search results show different timing for Expendio de Maíz’s first star. (guide.michelin.com) ### What changed in Michelin’s Mexico guide this year? Michelin said the 2026 Mexico guide expanded into Jalisco, Puebla and Yucatán, adding those states to coverage that already included Mexico City, Oaxaca, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo and Nuevo León. Michelin described the 2026 selection as covering 29 starred restaurants across the country, with seven newcomers marked as new in the guide. (guide.michelin.com) The Michelin article presenting the 2026 Mexico list said the expansion was “perhaps the biggest news” of the year’s guide. The company tied that wider geography to what it called the diversity and global importance of Mexico’s culinary landscape. ### Where do these restaurants fit in Mexico City’s starred map? (guide.michelin.com) Mexico City’s Michelin directory page lists a mix of long-established fine-dining names and newer entrants in Cuauhtémoc and Miguel Hidalgo. On the same city page, Michelin lists Quintonil and Pujol among Mexico City’s starred restaurants, alongside Esquina Común, Rosetta, Máximo, Gaba and Expendio de Maíz. (guide.michelin.com) Esquina Común had already been the subject of a Michelin feature in April 2025 after receiving a star, underscoring that the capital’s starred cohort has been broadening beyond its best-known dining rooms. Michelin’s restaurant pages now place Gaba and Expendio de Maíz inside that same one-star group for 2026. ### Where can readers check the official list? (guide.michelin.com) Michelin published the 2026 Mexico starred selection on May 20 on its official guide site, with a countrywide roundup and individual restaurant pages for each starred venue. The Mexico City directory page and the restaurant entries for Gaba and Expendio de Maíz remain the clearest official references for the current status of those restaurants in the 2026 guide. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2)